No, I’m not coaching writers anymore, having drifted into a blissful retirement. But I still take a great deal of pride in the accomplishments of my writers, as indicated by this 2014 post. Given my (approaching) dotage I’ve been taking on fewer writers in recent...

With regard to self-publishing, things haven’t changed much since I first presented this post in 2014. Quite a few years ago, when self-publishing, e-publishing, POD and such were in their embryonic stages, literary super-agent Richard Curtis (who at one time...

Too funny! Opening lines that are so bad—they’re good. I first presented this post in 2014. I just can’t get enough of those great bad opening lines that have been submitted to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest over the decades. Here are some more gems from recent...

As one who loves to write, I enjoyed creating all my many published novels. But my comedy/sci-fi trilogy (Bicycling Through Space and Time, The Ultimate Bike Path, and The 22nd Gear, all from Ace/Berkley) provided me with the most fun I ever had—and ultimately, sad to...

I thought that a long-ago read & critique workshop I led would be the death of me—literally. This post first ran in 2014. From the early ’90s to the mid-’00s I facilitated numerous read & critique workshops in my home. At its height I led three of them every...

Many folks—especially writers—love reading these deliberately bad opening lines. I first presented this post in 2013. I suppose I’m fascinated, if not obsessed, with the bad opening lines that have been submitted to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest over the past...